First US edition. 8vo. Pp. [x], 257. Quarter-bound black linen cloth over off-white paper boards, lettered in gilt to spine. Jacket design by Cynthia Krupat featuring a painting by Lin Jammet, with rear panel blurbs from New York Times Book Review, San Francisco Chronicle, and Chicago Tribune. Preceded by a privately printed, signed edition by the Franklin Library.
A 1991 New York Times 'Notable Book'. Author's eighth collection of short fiction, some of which was first published in slightly different form in outlets such as Harper's, Interview, Granta, Boston Globe, The New Yorker, Salmagundi, Mirabella, and Grand Street.
Sixteen thematically and geographically wide-ranging stories – from suburban London to far-flung Mozambique – highlighting the human consequences of political repression. Winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize in Literature. "A gallery of riveting tales... Gordimer's long and prolific career has left little doubt of her mastery of the art of fiction." –The Washington Post Book World